Valve seat ring



57UNITED STATES PATENT Patented Jan. 2, 19 45 n VALVE SEAT RING William B. Grifiith, Stone Harbor, N. J. a

c I Application November 2, 1943, Serial No. 508,722

2 Claims. (cram-167) My invention relates to improvements in valve seat rings and particularly relates to valve rings madeof soft flexible rubber, adapted for use upon valves of the type employed in sprinkler systems for fire protectionpurposes. r I

Valves having a seat element and a clapper element movable to and fromthe seat element have employed a flexible seat ring, between said elements, which ring is urged by the water under pressure into a position to form a seal between said elements. A valve of ths type is disclosed in the German patent to AckermannQNo. 432,865,

of 1926. I 1

Heretofore in. the use of valve rings of this type difliculty has been experienced in retaining the seat ringsupon the valve seat-element, which latter is provided with an annular recessformed therein, in which recess the seat ring is inserted. Various constructions of clamping means have also been employed for securing the seat ring,

, such as clamp :plates, and clamp rings, secured bybronze screws,which screws become corroded after a periodof time, making them diilicult to remove when it becomes necessary to renew the valve seat ring, frequentlyinvolving considerable expense in .reboring and retapping the screw holes.

Theobject of my invention is to provide means for detachably securing a flexible valve seat ring upon a valve element'so that the ring may be readily installed, and also removed when it is desired to renew the seat ring. I

A further object is to provide a detachable retaining ring adapted for impinging the seat ring and securely retaining the latter upon the valve element.

A further object is to provide a retaining ring, of the split ring type, so constructed that it will maintain its normal diameter against compression, thus insuring the retaining ring against displacement upon the valve element and also sein section, showing the valve seat ring and-the retaining ring; detached. I

In the accompanying drawing, in which like reference characters refer to like parts, 5 represents a valve of standard construction, adapted for use in sprinkler systems for fire protection.

The valve he of the delugetype and comprises a casing 6, having an inlet connection 1' adapted for attachnient to a water supply pipe, and an outlet connectionil, adapted for connection with a sprinkler system, not shown in the drawing. Thecasing 6 is provided with a valve seat element 9. surrounding apassage I 0 extending fromthe inlet connection 1. A clapper element I2 is pivotallymounted upon a shaft I3, located with- I in the casing 6 and is adapted for opening and closing the passage Ill. The casing 6 is provided with the usual hand-holes II. n I

The clapper element I2 is adapted to be locked in the closed position, shown in Fig. 1, bymeans of a latch lever. I4, pivoted upon a shaft I5. Said lever I4 has a shoulder I6 adapted for engaging curing the valve seat ring upon said element I when the seat ring becomes deteriorated.

A further object is to construct a flexible seat ring with a body portion adapted to occupy a recess formed in the valve element, and provide I ring with a projection, or handle, adapted for readily removing the retaining ring from the valve element.

theclapper I2 forholding it upon the-seat element 9. The outer end of the lever I4 "is engaged by a pin I8 on a rocking lever 19, pivoted on a shaft 20. Said lever I9 is held against movement by a plunger 2 I, which in turn is controlled by a releasing device of. standard construction,

in a manner Well known in the art. When the plunger 2| is released, the levers I4 and I9 will reelase the clapper I2, which latter will be forced to the open position by the pressure of the water in the passage III.

The valve seat element 9 includes a annular collar 23, formed integral with, or attached to the casing 6, and adapted for supporting the clapper I2, when the latter is locked upon the seat element 9, by the lever I4, as shown in Fig. 1.

The collar 23 is provided with an annular recess 24, adapted for mounting a flexible valve seat ring 25 within the valve casing 6. The recess 24 is preferably of rectangular cross-section.

My invention resides in the novel construction of the valve seat ring 25 and the novel means for retaining said seat ring. The seat ring 25 is 2 constructed with a body portion 26 and a relatively thinner flange portion 21, extending inwardly from the body portion toward the center of the ring, and forming the sealing member which is adapted to be tightly held against the valve element l2 by the action of water under pressure within the passage II].

The body portion 26 of the seat ring 25 is preferably of rectangular form and is provided upon its inner surface with an annular groove 28, into which groove .a retaining ring 3ll is positioned for retaining the 'body portion 26 within the recess 24, formed in the seat element 9. Said groove 28 is formed upon the inner surface of the body portion 26 adjacent to the flange 21, so that the retaining ring- 30 may be inserted from thepas-l v sage l and impinge the body portion26 for do tachably holding the latter upon the "valve e1e-" reterandprevents the seat ring 25 from :collapsing and from being forced out of said recess 24 by My novel construction eliminates the use of screws, heretofore used for holding the clamp rings in engagement with the flexible seat ring, which screws were diflicult to remove when corroded, making the renewal of the seat ring an expensive operation. With my construction the retaining ring and the seat ring may be readily removed by having access to the passage l0 through the hand-holes ll, formed in the casing 6,, throughwhich a new seal; ring may be inserted and secured in place, without disconnecting the valve 5 from the pipe connections.

Various changes in the construction and the arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from my invention.

A -flexible valve seat ring comprising a peripheral body portion, a widesealing flange upon one end face of said body portion forming a valve seat member extending at right angles tothe axis .of the ring fandrdefining an .axial passage through the action of water flowing through the passage The retaining .zrin-g 30 is provided with a projection, or handleihcomprising a radial pqntion 32 .iomned upon one end of the split ring 30 and extending toward the oenterof the latter A terminal portion33 is formed upon saidradial portion 32 and extends \at right angles to the iatter. A tool may be readily inserted i-undersaid terminal portion 33101 quicklyremovin g the retaining ring 130, when it is necessary to renew the seal; .ring v2.5. 7

My invention prov-ides means for securing the .seattring 25., and for readily renewing the :same.

The retaining ring 30 prevents the seat ring :from beingidislodged .and carried into the ,piping system by an excessive flow of water through'the valve, possibly clogging theisystem --a-nd rendering it .useless for fire protection purposes} The n taining ring can only be removed from the recess 24 by'vwithdrawin'g one of .theabuttingends of the ring 30 (and acompressingthe latter suinciently to allow it to be withdrawn from the ,groove 2!! and therecess 24. 7

the ring, .a relatively narrowersealing flange upon the opposite end face ofsaid body portionextending toward the center of the ring in spaced parallel relation with the wider .aflan-ge and defining iannu-lar groove between said flanges, .a split resilient retaining mounted said groove between the flanges I01 :holding ibody portion distended, an inwardly extending nadial portion uponone end of said retaining ring;.-and means upon said radial portion term/inating adjacent-to said narrower flange 'on tside 1o f it-he line of said axial passage for receiving a tool for. removing'th'e retaining ring. 5

2 A flexible valve seat ring comprising a pcripheral body portion, 'a wide sealing flange upon one end'i-ace of said bodypon-tion forming a valve seat member extending at right :anglestogthe axis of the ring and defining an axial passage through the ring, a relatively narrower sealing fiange upon the opposite end izf'ace of said body portion extending toward the center :of the in spaced parallel relation with the twideriflange and defining an (annular groove between said flanges, a split resilient retaining iring mounted .in said groove between the flanges for holding said body portion distended, an inwardly extend-- ling radial portion upon one end of the metairnng' ring, and .a terminal portion upon-sand .r-adiall portion extending at right angles to said radial portion and positioned outside-of theJIin-e nftsaid axial passage for receiving a tool tor'removing the retaining ring. t

. WILLIAM B. 

